iMac in curved glass, keyboard included Patent

Tired of the design of iMac, maybe just the powerful 5K 2019 object of our test last May? Over time, the Apple computer has changed its skin several times (it turned 20 in 2018): obviously inside, becoming more powerful and keeping up with the times, but also outside, with shapes now become super thin – especially looking at the first model of 1998. The current shape was sketched for the first time in 2002 with iMac G4: via the cathode ray tube, welcome LCD panel. And, since that year, the design has been increasingly perfected, up to the model currently on the market.

However, things could change. We are referring to a patent, therefore nothing tangible but that anyway confirms Apple's interest in exploring possible alternatives to today's design. Filed in May of last year and published by the USPTO just a few days ago, the patent US 2020/0026327 describes a computer (we can call it iMac out of habit) made almost entirely in glass, with the support that houses the display which, going down, makes a curve until it integrates the keyboard. To facilitate balance, the documentation shows a sort of stand on which the structure can be fitted.

In practice, the iMac is made up of

an upper portion that defines an area for the display, a lower portion that defines an area for input and a transition portion that joins the upper and lower portion and that defines a continuous and curved surface between the upper portion and the lower one

We do not pay too much attention to repetitions and form (patents use rather questionable linguistic structures!), But we pay attention to the juice: Apple thinks of something new, aesthetically beautiful, super thin and with precious materials.

The hypotheses shown in the documentation – drawings included – are different, even if they all start from the same initial structure. Change the form of the module called to support the computer, as well as different solutions are proposed for glass: a single piece, two pieces that can be folded up on themselves to facilitate transport, an integrated keyboard, an empty space to insert an external keyboard or even fit a MacBook from the back. And part of the internal components could be positioned inside the support itself, doors included.

As always, we emphasize that it is a patent, and not a solution already under development. It is true, however, that apparently Apple is working to "rejuvenate" the iMac line, thinking of proposing something innovative to give a further impulse to a sector that is struggling to rise: the forecasts for 2020 are not positive for the sector, as analysts say.